Yemen separatist chief defiant in first comments since disappearance

Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory.

Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council forces in December captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground.

Mr. Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks in early January, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi while supporters insisted he was still in Yemen.

“We will no longer accept any solutions that diminish our rights or impose an unacceptable reality upon us,” Mr. Zubaidi said in a social media post late Friday (January 16, 2026) addressed to his supporters.

His STC forces at one point essentially dominated most of the formerly independent state of South Yemen, which existed from 1967 to 1990 and which they have sought to reinstate.

The takeover had sparked tensions between Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who backed rival sides of Yemen’s government.

“I pledge to you… that we will continue together until we achieve the desired national goal,” said Mr. Zubaidi.

“With your determination, we will prevail. With your unity, the South will be protected, and with your will, the future state will be established.”

Separatist supporters have continued protest and on Friday (January 16, 2026) turned out in their thousands in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, backing Mr. Zubaidi and the STC.

They brandished photographs of Mr. Zubaidi, with some chanting against Rashad al-Alimi, who heads Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential body, and his Saudi backers.

One of the protesters, Hussein Mohammed al-Yafai, told AFP he had come out to “reject the illegitimate measures taken by Saudi Arabia… against the South.”

Another demonstrator, Wafi Al-Arimi, said “no power on earth can force the southerners to abandon their national project”.

But Yemen’s internationally recognised government and its presidential body have since undergone a purge.

UAE-aligned ministers and members of the presidential council have been dismissed and Mr. Alimi declared that all southern factions would unite under Saudi command.